2) Guardians avoid all damage during the Command Phase. Attacks, by default, occur during the Command Phase as part of a Command Phase Attack Action. Logically then, Guardians are immune to attack Damage. This does not seem to be what the designer intended. Is it that Units that are immune to damage in the Command Phase still can take Attack damage? Where is this information in the rulebook?

3) Do Guardians start in play, or are they shuffled in, drawn, and summoned normally? If they start in play, where do they start, in your home row? Where is this in the rulebook?

4) Except for starting units, does each player start with a Mana total of 0, or a Mana Total based on their controlled tiles? Where is this in the rulebook?

5) Flist Rhiannon Mivior has Spell Mastery. During her turn her Hand Limit increases by 2. Does this mean she always has a hand size of 15, or that at the beginning of the turn her hand size is 13 and at the end of the turn (after this passive command ability activates) that she has a hand size of 15? Nominally, at the start of the game

6) During the Mana Collection phase a player removes "all markers on the map, as appropriate". Does this means all markers of all kinds are removed from all units and tiles controlled by all players? If so, it seems like you can't be Shielded during an enemy attack and that everything falls out of control. Does this just mean, "remove any counters that represent abilities that expire at the end of your turn"?

7) P. 9 of the rules says that Shields are "always removed if the enemy moves for any reason or cause". I have a unit on the far left side of the map which is Shielded. The enemy moves an unrelated unit on the far right of the map. Does this remove all my Shields all over the board? The rules seem to say this, but I suspect that they are in error somehow, that words are missing from the rules. I presume the rules were intended to be that if the enemy makes your shielded unit move that it loses its shielding (they don't say this). If, however, as stated, any time your enemy moves for any reason or cause, all shields vanish, then shields are basically useless in the game.

8) When a thrown unit lands do units adjacent to the landing unit take damage or units adjacent to the throwing unit? I'm assuming it's next to the landing unit.

9) Flish Rhiannon Mivior has an ability ("Elf Essence") that works during the "Defensive Card Buying Phase". There is no such thing defined in the rulebook. Looking up the ability directly in the rulebook says that it occurs during Phase 3. Is there a "Defensive Card Buying" phase, and if so, when is it?

10) In Solo Scenario #1 the left column says that Talon and Ebon are placed on turn 2. In the right column it says they are placed during the third turn. Which is it?

As a general comments, this game really needs some player aids. I suggest cheat sheets as to the powers (including portals) that Guardians can do as well as a detailed list of turn order, available action combinations, etc. Make sure that they include first round exceptions to the rules. I suggest creating some downloadable PDFs.

I'm certain there will be more questions. For now, thanks for getting the answers to these.

1. I believe it's to show who has Attacked each turn, since Units are limited to one Attack per turn (pg. 8, under Perform Unit Actions).

2. As you've noted, it's not clearly worded enough that they can take Attack damage but surely that's the intention - the reason I say this is that the rules on pg. 4 (top right corner) state that, "When a Guardian is eliminated, it goes back into the hand of the player and may be summoned at its Mana cost onto a Home Row map tile in a future round. A Guardian may not be summoned in the same round it was eliminated." So clearly they can be killed and it seems reasonable to assume that would happen during combat since they do not take Command Phase ability damage (via Spells or Unit abilities).

3. They start in play on your home row - the Scenarios hint at this but don't come out and point it out.

4. Per the rules at the top of pg. 12, right top corner - "The first player starts with 10 Mana and the second starts with 20."

5. She always has a hand size of 15 - that's how I'd interpret that, but I could see where the confusion might come from...

6. In light of the section that this is mentioned in, I'd have to say they're referring to Control markers. But I'm not 100% certain, myself.

7. I think they shift perspective at times (I had an issue with the wording for supporting units, myself, until I realized what the writer had done)...so perhaps it means that if 1. you are forced to move (as you've guessed here) OR 2. if a Unit moves, it loses its Shield, which makes sense to me, also.

8. I'm pretty darn certain it's the Units next to the landing Unit, wherever that may be.

9. I'm nearly positive they're referring to the second time you can Buy Card which is right after the Mana Collection phase. Just a wonky wording that was left in the rules booklet.

1. I believe it's to show who has Attacked each turn, since Units are limited to one Attack per turn (pg. 8, under Perform Unit Actions).

Here's where I disagree with you. Note that there are both "Attack" and "Battle" Markers. Presumably Attack markers are to show who has attacked, so what are Battle markers for? I presume it's the name of some special power like "Stealth" that I haven't yet encountered, but I'm not sure.

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3. They start in play on your home row - the Scenarios hint at this but don't come out and point it out.

Some of the Scenarios don't even mention the Guardians at all (other than to say which player has which one). So, it's unclear whether you have starting points to buy units PLUS a Guardian, whether you have to draw your Guardian and pay for him out of your starting points (or else not start with him), etc. I'm assuming you have a Guardian PLUS some starting additional units, and that they also start in your home rows somehow, but that's not 100% clear to me. Since this is one of the fundamental rules of play the rulebook should have made this explicit.

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4. Per the rules at the top of pg. 12, right top corner - "The first player starts with 10 Mana and the second starts with 20."

Good catch. That I missed.

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5. She always has a hand size of 15 - that's how I'd interpret that, but I could see where the confusion might come from...

I'd probably agree, but the power has no listed trigger or duration.

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9. I'm nearly positive they're referring to the second time you can Buy Card which is right after the Mana Collection phase. Just a wonky wording that was left in the rules booklet.

That's my take too. Actually, it's the card that's the problem. When they reprint the power in the rulebook it lists a specific phase. They probably need to issue errata on the card or rewrite the rules to match the card.

"Wuhhh... I think so, Brain, but if a ham can operate a radio, why can't a pig set a VCR?"

wytefang wrote:

6. In light of the section that this is mentioned in, I'd have to say they're referring to Control markers. But I'm not 100% certain, myself.

Errr...Control markers are only removed when taken over by an opposing forces movement in to the space. There should be no removal of control markers at the end of the phase. It more refers to removing "attack" markers or "ability markers", so as to ready your forces for your next turn. Shields persist through your opponents turn (or else what would the point be), or until they are removed by combat.

wytefang wrote:

7. I think they shift perspective at times (I had an issue with the wording for supporting units, myself, until I realized what the writer had done)...so perhaps it means that if 1. you are forced to move (as you've guessed here) OR 2. if a Unit moves, it loses its Shield, which makes sense to me, also.

Agreed. A unit forced to move or moving voluntarily loses its shield.

hudarklord wrote:

10) In Solo Scenario #1 the left column says that Talon and Ebon are placed on turn 2. In the right column it says they are placed during the third turn. Which is it?

I'd place a pretty hefty wager that it was meant to be turn 3 and that the turn 2 is a typo. I say this because the rules state that on turn 2 you are supposed to draw from the Nonplayer Unit deck and populate the home row. Subsequently, on turn 3 you are to add Talon and Ebon to the board. It seems to me that this scenario is correct, as they provide the turn order in context, rather than just mentioning "Turn 2" as they had earlier.

2. As you've noted, it's not clearly worded enough that they can take Attack damage but surely that's the intention - the reason I say this is that the rules on pg. 4 (top right corner) state that, "When a Guardian is eliminated, it goes back into the hand of the player and may be summoned at its Mana cost onto a Home Row map tile in a future round. A Guardian may not be summoned in the same round it was eliminated." So clearly they can be killed and it seems reasonable to assume that would happen during combat since they do not take Command Phase ability damage (via Spells or Unit abilities).

I believe you are correct.On page 8 under Attack, it says:"When the battle is completed, the phasing player returns to his Command Phase to perform more actions as he wishes".Sounds to me like they intend for battles to be a seperate phase from the Command Phase.So I take it they mean Guardians are immune to active and passive Command Abilities, plus spells not cast in battle.

6. In light of the section that this is mentioned in, I'd have to say they're referring to Control markers. But I'm not 100% certain, myself.

Errr...Control markers are only removed when taken over by an opposing forces movement in to the space. There should be no removal of control markers at the end of the phase. It more refers to removing "attack" markers or "ability markers", so as to ready your forces for your next turn. Shields persist through your opponents turn (or else what would the point be), or until they are removed by combat.

wytefang wrote:

7. I think they shift perspective at times (I had an issue with the wording for supporting units, myself, until I realized what the writer had done)...so perhaps it means that if 1. you are forced to move (as you've guessed here) OR 2. if a Unit moves, it loses its Shield, which makes sense to me, also.

Agreed. A unit forced to move or moving voluntarily loses its shield.

hudarklord wrote:

10) In Solo Scenario #1 the left column says that Talon and Ebon are placed on turn 2. In the right column it says they are placed during the third turn. Which is it?

I'd place a pretty hefty wager that it was meant to be turn 3 and that the turn 2 is a typo. I say this because the rules state that on turn 2 you are supposed to draw from the Nonplayer Unit deck and populate the home row. Subsequently, on turn 3 you are to add Talon and Ebon to the board. It seems to me that this scenario is correct, as they provide the turn order in context, rather than just mentioning "Turn 2" as they had earlier.

I thought having the game in front of me would help explain the rules................no such luck. After 1500 games played in my collection, I have found a game whose rules, especially solitaire, are unimtelligable. How can Petroglyph expect a seasoned gamer like me to understand how to play this game.......what frustration. They need to simplify the rules with less convolution and less complicated explanations. These rules might as well be in a foreign language!

I agree David.It is rare for me to have to take notes, just to understand a game. But I had to make my own turn sequence player aid, to be comfortable with the rules for this one.I have only briefly looked at the solo rules, as that type of gaming is not appealing to me. But they sure did make them look complicated.

I have uploaded a turn- and battle sequence player aid, for the 2-player game, to the files section. It's nothing fancy, but hopefully it'l help people getting started.

I just wanted to pop in here and say thanks for all the excellent feedback you've given so far. There are some clarifications with the rules that certainly could be made, and will be here, and of course in new versions of the manual.

I'm going to ask the designers to look over this thread in particular and ensure we can respond to all these directly. We've seen a lot of great questions in the forums so far and have been working to get to them as fast as we can .

Under "Mind Control" if your supporting unit is subverted to support the enemy is it, for the purposes of other game effects, considered a "friendly" or an "enemy" unit for the remainder of the battle?

When is "Bewitch" actually played? Spells must be played in Step 5 of the battle, but sacrificing isn't until step 6. Is this just played proactively hoping that your opponent wanted to sacrifice something?

If a castle is controlled by player 2 and player 1's unit attacks and eliminates player 2's unit there but does not enter the castle is the castle still controlled by player 2, or does it become uncontrolled? I assume it becomes uncontrolled.

I presume that "Vanish" can only be played up until step 5 of the battle as with other spell cards, is that correct? It would force you to decide to cancel the battle before sacrificing spells occurs in step 6, right?

In some places in the solo scenarios it tells you to move non-player units left to right, back to front (i.e., starting in the back left corner and moving units until you get to the unit on the rightmost front corner). Elsewhere it contradicts this. Is one preferred over the other for some reason?

In multiple places the rules refer to spell decks (plural), and in the solo scenarios even suggest there should be a battle spell deck and a command spell deck. Are there two spell decks or just one, as used in other parts of the rules?

In the solo scenarios, what's the battle spell card draw for? Is it for actual spell casting, or is this meant for the non-player to sacrifice? If it's for sacrifice, which side (attacking or defending BV) does it modify?

In the solo scenarios does the non-player draw the two free spell cards during turn 1 like a normal player would?

Your Guardian can end up in your hand if defeated in battle. Can he be discarded by rules or effects that force discards of cards, forcing you to potentially play the rest of the game without a Guardian? One of the solo scenarios forces discards if a city is taken over, so if your Guardian is on a city and gets defeated he can go to your hand and potentially get discarded if you have a small enough hand. Is it supposed to work this way, or are Guardians immune to being discarded from hand?

Please explain this rule further: "From the Player’s hand, swap one Henchmen or Equipment Card with a corresponding Henchmen or Equipment Card in his Legion." Consider a Henchman who is badly wounded and has equipment on him. When I swap him out and a new one is swapped in does the damage remain? How about the equipment? Can I swap any Henchman for any other Henchman, or can I only swap a card for an identical card? Does the card that was on the table go into my hand or into the discard pile?

The battle tokens are used to track when either player uses a Battle Ability during the Battle Phase. It eliminates the confusion that may come about when calculating the Battle Values from spell cards for each players turn.

*See page 9, 7.0 Battle, Steps 4 and Steps 5.

2) Guardians avoid all damage during the Command Phase. Attacks, by default, occur during the Command Phase as part of a Command Phase Attack Action. Logically then, Guardians are immune to attack Damage. This does not seem to be what the designer intended. Is it that Units that are immune to damage in the Command Phase still can take Attack damage? Where is this information in the rulebook?

When you choose to Attack any unit with another unit you enter into the Battle Phase where Guardians can be wounded.

The Guardians themselves cannot be wounded during the command phase by any command phase abilities or spell cards such as Ranged Attacks, Hell Storm, Wild Fire or even Rumble Tumble. However the Guardians can be targeted so Command Phase attacks that have an Area of Affect damage (splash damage) associated with them can damage units adjacent to the Guardian but the Guardian takes no wounds. We created this game mechanic so players wouldn’t lose their Guardian from a mass amount of ranged attacks.

The Guardian can only be eliminated during the Battle Phase. This includes taking damage from the spell card Chain Lightning when supporting a Battle. The eliminated Guardian goes directly back into the players hand and can be summoned on the home row only, unless otherwise determined by the use of spell cards or the scenario rules.

*See page 4, unit Classifications, Guardian (the classifications states that Guardians can not be targeted during the Command Phase and that is however incorrect)

3) Do Guardians start in play, or are they shuffled in, drawn, and summoned normally? If they start in play, where do they start, in your home row? Where is this in the rulebook?

The Guardians are selected by each player before the start of the game. The youngest player chooses first. Scenarios will sometimes specify a Guardian(s). After the Guardians are selected the remaining 4 Guardians are put aside separate from any spell or unit cards and cannot be brought into the game at any time. Each player will then place their Guardian on their home row face up. The player also places his or her Guardian miniature on their card.

*Not noted in the manual.

4) Except for starting units, does each player start with a Mana total of 0, or a Mana Total based on their controlled tiles? Where is this in the rulebook?

After placing the Guardians, each player will draw 10 cards from the top of either their unit deck or the community unit deck. Each player is awarded 30 mana to spend on summoning their starting units and then places these selected units face down either on their home row or an adjacent tile to their Guardian.

Units cannot be placed on tiles they are restricted from entering. (Mountain Tiles have movement restrictions). The remaining unit cards are reshuffled into the appropriate unit decks and all the unit cards placed on the board are flipped face up. Any mana remaining is lost.

Each player then selects 4 unit cards and 4 spell cards from the top of either their specific decks or the community deck. This is their stating hand. The youngest player decides who will go 1st. The player going 1st will receive 10 starting mana the player going 2nd will receive 20 starting mana. Unless otherwise determined by the scenario rules.

*Outlined on page 12 Initial Set-Up

5) Flist Rhiannon Mivior has Spell Mastery. During her turn her Hand Limit increases by 2. Does this mean she always has a hand size of 15, or that at the beginning of the turn her hand size is 13 and at the end of the turn (after this passive command ability activates) that she has a hand size of 15? Nominally, at the start of the game

When using the Guardian Flist the player will increase their hand limit 2 cards for the length of either the game or until the guardian is removed from the board. For example, if the hand limit determined is 13 then the total hand limit for the Player using Flist is 15 but is Flist is eliminated from the board then the players hand limit will go down to 13. If the player is at a hand limit of 15 cards they must discard 2 cards, of their choice, from their hand.

6) During the Mana Collection phase a player removes "all markers on the map, as appropriate". Does this means all markers of all kinds are removed from all units and tiles controlled by all players? If so, it seems like you can't be Shielded during an enemy attack and that everything falls out of control. Does this just mean, "remove any counters that represent abilities that expire at the end of your turn"?

The phase player will remove all marks associated with their unit’s actions during that round. Shields, Control Markers, Stuns and Wounds all stay in place. The markers are used to keep track of your actions during your Round.

7) P. 9 of the rules says that Shields are "always removed if the enemy moves for any reason or cause". I have a unit on the far left side of the map which is Shielded. The enemy moves an unrelated unit on the far right of the map. Does this remove all my Shields all over the board? The rules seem to say this, but I suspect that they are in error somehow, that words are missing from the rules. I presume the rules were intended to be that if the enemy makes your shielded unit move that it loses its shielding (they don't say this). If, however, as stated, any time your enemy moves for any reason or cause, all shields vanish, then shields are basically useless in the game.

Shields work as a defensive mechanic in the game. A unit can move and then apply a shield but take no further actions. If that unit moves the next round the shield is removed because of the movement action. Now that the unit has only moved they can either re-apply their shield or attack an enemy unit. The shield is only removed if that specific unit is either moved on its own, is moved by the enemy, if they use a Command ability, or if the unit takes 3 or more wounds from Command ability like a ranged attack or spell card.

8) When a thrown unit lands do units adjacent to the landing unit take damage or units adjacent to the throwing unit? I'm assuming it's next to the landing unit.

All the units adjacent to the landing unit’s tile location take damage, including the thrown unit. Also if the thrown unit has not preformed any of its actions it still may do so. If the thrown unit was shielded the shield is removed.

9) Flish Rhiannon Mivior has an ability ("Elf Essence") that works during the "Defensive Card Buying Phase". There is no such thing defined in the rulebook. Looking up the ability directly in the rulebook says that it occurs during Phase 3. Is there a "Defensive Card Buying" phase, and if so, when is it?

The defensive card buying phase is at the end of your offensive command phase. You will end your turn, count up the mana acquired from your controlled tiles, the other player will draw their free card(s), then both players have the opportunity to buy additional cards for 5 mana each. This will be the process for every round after the 1st.

See page 8. Perform these Phases in each Player Round:

10) In Solo Scenario #1 the left column says that Talon and Ebon are placed on turn 2. In the right column it says they are placed during the third turn. Which is it?

Thanks, Mathew. I later posted some other questions in this thread as well. When you get a chance I'd like to see the answers to those as well. Most of those were situation or card-specific questions as opposed to vague areas, omissions, etc. in the rules. I'll comment on some of the answers you provided.

Berek Halfhand wrote:

The Guardian can only be eliminated during the Battle Phase.

There is no Battle Phase in the rulebook. The phrase is used a couple of times inconsistently, but there's no explicit section called a "Battle Phase" (see pp. 8-9). Sometimes the phrase "Battle Phase" is used, but it's nowhere on the Phases list, for example. I presume that there are multiple command and battle phases in reality. In the rules, but in the rules it's the "Battle Sequence" of the "Command Phase". Clearly there's a rulebook error. The rulebook should be changed so that the Battle Phase is overtly not a subset of the Command Phase. I figured that was the intent, but it's not currently what the rules say.

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Re: starting mana*Outlined on page 12 Initial Set-Up

Thanks, missed this.

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When using the Guardian Flist the player will increase their hand limit 2 cards for the length of either the game or until the guardian is removed from the board. For example, if the hand limit determined is 13 then the total hand limit for the Player using Flist is 15 but is Flist is eliminated from the board then the players hand limit will go down to 13. If the player is at a hand limit of 15 cards they must discard 2 cards, of their choice, from their hand.

This is a problematic ruling. First, I couldn't find a rule saying that you have to discard down if you exceed 13, so that should be added to the rulebook. Also, there are no rules on what you cannot discard. Can you discard your Bluff card? Your Guardian if it's in hand? So, there are some more missing rules for you.

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The shield is only removed if that specific unit is either moved on its own, is moved by the enemy

This is an error in the rules, where it says the shield is removed if "THE ENEMY moves for any reason or cause." I presumed the intent, but the rules say something other than the intent.

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The defensive card buying phase is at the end of your offensive command phase. You will end your turn, count up the mana acquired from your controlled tiles, the other player will draw their free card(s), then both players have the opportunity to buy additional cards for 5 mana each. This will be the process for every round after the 1st.

See page 8. Perform these Phases in each Player Round:

If you look up the Elf Essence Power in the rulebook it differs from the card text. In spite of the page reference here, there is NO MENTION that I could find of a "defensive card buying phase." Clearly as I noted that I found that the effect description differed from the card text, I guessed at the answer. However, the answer given here differs from the rules. Phase 3 is called the "Mana Collection and Buy Additional Cards Phase". This is probably a version control problem and should be adjusted in the rules to match the card's text.

Thanks again. I look forward to answers to the other questions in this thread. Hopefully they will help others as well.

9) Flish Rhiannon Mivior has an ability ("Elf Essence") that works during the "Defensive Card Buying Phase". There is no such thing defined in the rulebook. Looking up the ability directly in the rulebook says that it occurs during Phase 3. Is there a "Defensive Card Buying" phase, and if so, when is it?

The defensive card buying phase is at the end of your offensive command phase. You will end your turn, count up the mana acquired from your controlled tiles, the other player will draw their free card(s), then both players have the opportunity to buy additional cards for 5 mana each. This will be the process for every round after the 1st.

So phase 3 has the following steps:- Phasing player collects Mana.- Phasing player may buy cards.- Other player may buy cards (not listed in the manual).Correct?

And just to be sure I understand the difference between rounds, turns and phases. As the wording on page 9 has me a bit confused:In turn 1 player-1 collects Mana in step 3, and player-2 gets 2 cards.Then when player-2 reaches step 3, he/she collects Mana and player-1 gets 2 cards.Correct?

Regarding moves and attacks, also from page 9:A unit may make no more than 1 move or attack through abilities/spells, outside a standard move/attack action.Correct?

Finally - what is the difference between Range and Siege attacks? Can Ulmar's Iron Dragons use their siege ability only on cities, villages and Castles, or may they attack any unit within reach?

The Guardians themselves cannot be wounded during the command phase by any command phase abilities or spell cards such as Ranged Attacks, Hell Storm, Wild Fire or even Rumble Tumble. However the Guardians can be targeted so Command Phase attacks that have an Area of Affect damage (splash damage) associated with them can damage units adjacent to the Guardian but the Guardian takes no wounds. We created this game mechanic so players wouldn’t lose their Guardian from a mass amount of ranged attacks.

Emphasis mine.

This ruling is in violation with the written rules.pg. 4 - Guardian Abilities/Guardian:"Immune to any enemy powers or damage in the Command Phase. Guardians may never be targeted or affected by any spell occurring in the Command Phase."

What to believe?And Petroglyph, please have a look at my questions in the previous post too.

1) Are Guardian Abilities activated command abilities (one per turn), or are they a different thing? Can any number of them be used any number of times (other than the one cheap summoning per turn)? So, for example, if your Guardian is destroyed and resummoned can he immediately begin moving portals?

Is the Guardian's ability to summon "behind" them only directly behind them or on any row behind them?

2) In the solo rules it says: "Non-Player Unit Abilities: The only unit abilities that will be active are the Battle Abilities, Passive Abilities and Healing Abilities." Then the rules go on and completely ignore this limit and note that some ranged attacks are usable during the command phase. Does this only include power that lead with the "Ranged" designator or any nasty player-affecting power that works at range. Also, will a non-player unit with a ranged attack who is adjacent to a player unit prioritize melee attacking or ranged damage?

3) If a unit cannot make any more unit actions (because of a game effect), can they still receive movement and attack actions from a spell or other game effect (provided that they don't get more than one extra move action per turn)?

4) In the solo scenarios if they non-player spells are unusable normally (like those that damage supporting units when there are none) are they instead sacrificed, or are they held until they can be reasonably cast normally?

What if your starting selection of Units (30 Mana worth in the 1st Scenario) combined with the placement of your Guardian Unit would exceed the number of tiles in your home row? For example, in the starting scenario, you have 4 Home Tiles, but I picked 4 Units totaling 30 Mana with 1 Guardian in addition to those 4 Units. What do I do in that scenario? Just nix one of the Units? Or do we count the Guardian's Mana Cost when choosing our 30 Mana worth of starting units??

The way I understand it, the Guardian summons all the units at the beginning of the game. That means the Guardian is placed in the home row and all units are then placed in the home row or adjacent to the Guardian. So scenario 1 should leave you with 5 possible tiles to spawn units.